EP0103590B1 - Prosthetic foot - Google Patents

Prosthetic foot Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0103590B1
EP0103590B1 EP83900814A EP83900814A EP0103590B1 EP 0103590 B1 EP0103590 B1 EP 0103590B1 EP 83900814 A EP83900814 A EP 83900814A EP 83900814 A EP83900814 A EP 83900814A EP 0103590 B1 EP0103590 B1 EP 0103590B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
hollow core
prosthetic foot
adapter
foot
core
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
EP83900814A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0103590A1 (en
Inventor
Robert Axelsson
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Een Holmgren Ortopediska AB
Original Assignee
Een Holmgren Ortopediska AB
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Een Holmgren Ortopediska AB filed Critical Een Holmgren Ortopediska AB
Priority to AT83900814T priority Critical patent/ATE22003T1/de
Publication of EP0103590A1 publication Critical patent/EP0103590A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0103590B1 publication Critical patent/EP0103590B1/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61F—FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRST-AID KITS
    • A61F2/00—Filters implantable into blood vessels; Prostheses, i.e. artificial substitutes or replacements for parts of the body; Appliances for connecting them with the body; Devices providing patency to, or preventing collapsing of, tubular structures of the body, e.g. stents
    • A61F2/50—Prostheses not implantable in the body
    • A61F2/60—Artificial legs or feet or parts thereof
    • A61F2/66—Feet; Ankle joints

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a new type of prosthetic foot, i.e. an artificial substitute for a lost biological foot.
  • the major problem which the invention is intended to solve is to provide a light-weight prosthetic foot which to the greatest possible extent resembles the biological foot concerning possibilities of movement and pattern of movement, effect of forces and loss of energy on walking, shape and appearance, etc., and which is also comparatively easy and cheap to manufacture and can easily be adjusted to different patients.
  • prosthetic feet In the most common design of prosthetic feet there is provided a wooden core, to which an adapter for a lower leg prosthesis is attached.
  • these prosthetic feet separate elastic elements are used for achieving the desired simulation of the joints and the pattern of movement of the biological foot when walking, especially the desired mobility in the ankle joint, the spring joints (e.g. subtalar joint) and the toe area on the heal strike and the push-off.
  • Such constructions having a comparatively heavy core and separate foot joint mechanisms, are complex and heavy and cause considerable loss of energy on walking (the leg/leg prosthesis forms a long lever with the prosthetic foot at one end thereof).
  • Swedish Patent No. 139,076 and German Patent No. 354,246 can be mentioned as examples of prior art prosthetic feet based on a heavy wooden core and suffering from the above mentioned drawbacks.
  • the first mentioned patent discloses a prosthetic foot consisting of a heel and mid-foot portion, which is connected to a toe piece by means of a pair of cooperating plate springs which press the toe piece downwards.
  • the heel portion is connected to a lower leg prosthesis in conventional manner by means of a ball joint and a rubber cushion.
  • the latter patent discloses a different type of prosthetic foot - a so-called SACH-foot (Solid Ankle Cushion Heel) prosthesis - wherein a wedge-shaped wooden lower leg prosthesis is connected to the prosthetic foot between a wooden toe and mid-foot piece and a heel cushion of rubber, a plate spring being connected between the front foot portion and the rear part of the lower leg prosthesis for providing resilient resistance to downwards/backwards motion of the lower leg prosthesis.
  • DE-A-3 137 684 discloses an artificial leg and foot, in which the prosthetic foot is connected to the prosthetic leg by means of a ball joint, and which comprises a rigid hollow support of carbon fiber material.
  • Russian Patent No. 738,618 discloses an artificial foot comprising a moulded hollow heel and mid-foot piece, which is hingedly joined to a hollow toe piece.
  • This artificial foot has most complex, heavy and expensive mechanisms for joining the foot to the lower leg prosthesis and providing the desired motions.
  • there are multiple connections between the artificial foot and the leg prosthesis including a multitude of separate connection elements, such as a talocrural shock absorber with two telescoping sockets, a ball joint, a front shock absorber, double rear shock absorbers, rotation units, etc.
  • the present invention thus aims at eliminating, or reducing, these and other drawbacks of known prostheticfeet, and to this end there is according to the invention proposed a new type of prosthetic foot, the characteristic features of which are indicated in the subsequent claims and will be explained further below.
  • the prosthetic foot thus comprises a non-homogenous - or hollow - integral core which by e.g. a combination of choice of material, material thickness and shape forms a system of elastic and rigid areas, so that the core in itself forms an elastic and flexible foot joint system when connected directly to a substantially rigid foot adapter without the mediation of any separate articulated elements.
  • the foot joint mechanisms (elastic elements) and the wooden core (rigid element) of the conventional prosthetic feet are thus replaced by one single, hollow, shaped body having corresponding mechanical properties.
  • the hollow core is provided with means for attachment of the foot adapter substantially without the mediation of articulated elements, so that joint and supporting functions which are desired during the walking cycle are achieved by the substantially direct contact between the substantially rigid foot adapter and the hollow core.
  • the direct contact between the rigid adapter and the hollow core is such that it permits movements in all directions, including lateral movements (prona- tion and supernation) and rotation movements, however with a limited mobility in the dorsal direction.
  • the prosthesis according to the invention permits a "soft" dorsal stop, thereby avoiding unnecessarily great strain at the stop. As is well known the dorsal stop for a normal patient occurs when the leg/leg prosthesis has just passed the vertical line.
  • the indicated properties of the hollow core are primarily determined by the choice of material, the thickness of the material and the shape of the core.
  • the requirements on the material, at least after having being shaped to this core, are primarily that it shall be capable of standing the repeated deformation which the walking movement involves, i.e. have very high folding strength ("hinge properties"). Further, it should have good elastic recovery, i.e. a good plastic memory.
  • a polyolefin such as polypropylene, polyolefin (polypropylene)/rubber mixtures, Hytrel ® , etc.
  • the hollow core of the prosthetic foot according to the invention can be manufactured by methods which are known per se and which make it possible to provide the desired shape and, if desired, varying material thickness for the prosthetic foot to provide the desired joint and supporting functions during the walking cycle.
  • One suitable such method is blow molding of plastics, and other examples of suitable methods of manufacture are rotation molding, injection molding, etc. As mentioned such methods of manufacture are per se conventional and will therefore not be described further herein.
  • the prosthetic foot is generally designated by the reference numeral 1.
  • the foot adapter in general is referenced 2.
  • the prosthetic foot 1 essentially consists of a hollow, shaped body or core 3 which is covered by a suitable covering 4, e.g. of polyure- tan.
  • a suitable covering 4 e.g. of polyure- tan.
  • the covering 4 primarily serves to function as a "foot sole” and for the rest to give the prosthesis foot a cosmetically attractive design.
  • the core 3 consists of a comparatively thin plastic shell enclosing an inner cavity 5 which can be open or closed.
  • the continuous core or skeleton 3 comprises a toe portion 3a, a mid-foot portion 3b, a heel portion 3c and an adapter attachment portion 3d.
  • the transition between the mid-foot portion 3b and the toe or front foot portion 3a is, by means of a recessed portion 3e or otherwise, shaped so that it forms a "joint" corresponding to a toe joint. It is, however, within the scope of the invention to replace the toe portion 3a by any conventional toe joint device.
  • the prosthetic foot 1 is attached to the foot adapter 2 by means of a bolt 6 and a washer 7, the bolt extending through the attachment portion 3d of the skeleton 3.
  • the adapter 2 is in turn connected to a tubular skeleton part 8 of a lower leg prosthesis or the like (not shown) by means of a suitable fastening device 9.
  • the bolt head 6 is located in a recess 10 provided in the bottom side of the skeleton, and the adapter 2 is mounted in a top side recess 11 of the plastic skeleton 3.
  • the recess 11 has a substantially flat bottom 11 a having side walls 11b, 11c directed obliquely upwards.
  • the adapter 2 substantially directly (from the functional viewpoint unessential washers or spacers may be present) contacts the substantially flat bottom 11a of the skeleton 3.
  • the front bottom surface 13 of the adapter 2 i.e. in front of the bolt 6) is substantially planar in its contact with the bottom 11 a, whereas its rear part (i.e. behind the bolt 6) can have convex or rounded shape (as at 12, for reasons that will be explained further below).
  • the function of the prosthetic foot is best explained with reference to the walking cycle heel strike - dorsal stop - toe rolling.
  • the walking cycle is begun by the heel strike against the ground, and the great forces involved therein are absorbed by a thicker heel portion 4a of the sole and the heel portion 3c.
  • On the heel strike it is, however, primarily essential to provide a soft ankle joint and this is achieved by cooperation between the adapter 2 and the hollow body 3, which thanks to its shape absorbs the created forces.
  • the softness in the ankle joint can be controlled further by variation of the curvature of the convex portion 12 on the adapter 2: the smaller the radius, the softer the ankle joint.
  • the walking step is then continued by rolling forwards to the dorsal stop, which occurs by the contact of the substantially planar front bottom surface 13 of the foot adapter with the skeleton surface 11a. Because of the elasticity of the material in the portion 11a, and in the entire skeleton body 3, the dorsal stop will not be abrupt, but will take place with a certain resilience. Thereafter the toe joint 3e turns into function, and as mentioned above the same can alternatively consist of a conventional toe joint (or simply be left out).
  • FIG. 2 An alternative embodiment of the means for connecting the prosthetic foot 1 to the foot adapter 2 is shown in Fig. 2, wherein like parts as in Fig. 1 have the same reference numerals.
  • two shims or spacers 15 and 16 are provided between the bolt head 6a and the flat bottom 11a a of the attachment recess 11.
  • the first spacer 15 has rounded edges on the side facing the bottom 11a, and it is made of a hard material, preferably hard plastics such as nylon.
  • the second spacer 16, which is located between the first spacer 15 and the bolt head (or nut) 6a is made of a resilient material, preferably a resilient plastics material such as neoprene.
  • the spacer 16 provides for automatic tightening of the connection between the bolt head and the core if cold flow should occur in the materials of the core bottom 11a a and the spacer 15.
  • Fig. 3 shows a preferred embodiment of the core 3 viewed from above.
  • a hole 14 in the center portion of the toe joint area 3e is provided.
  • the purpose of this hole is to attach the covering 4 to the core 3 in a manner such that the covering 4 is loosely provided around the core 3, however with interconnection between the covering parts 4a and 4b (Fig. 1) through the hole 14.
  • This interconnection can be achieved by e.g. moulding the resilient covering 4 around the core 3 without bonding to the same, said interconnection being formed by the covering material filling the hole 14, thus forming an integral covering including a piece of material joining the covering portions 4a and 4b through the hole 14. It has been found that considerable advantages are obtained on the contact with the ground during the walking cycle when using this embodiment, wherein the covering 4 is allowed to be displaced somewhat along the core 3 (while still being retained in its general position by the interconnection through the hole 14).

Landscapes

  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Transplantation (AREA)
  • Vascular Medicine (AREA)
  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Biomedical Technology (AREA)
  • Heart & Thoracic Surgery (AREA)
  • Orthopedic Medicine & Surgery (AREA)
  • Cardiology (AREA)
  • Animal Behavior & Ethology (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Public Health (AREA)
  • Veterinary Medicine (AREA)
  • Prostheses (AREA)
  • Materials For Medical Uses (AREA)
EP83900814A 1982-03-05 1983-03-03 Prosthetic foot Expired EP0103590B1 (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AT83900814T ATE22003T1 (de) 1982-03-05 1983-03-03 Fuessprothese.

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
SE8201389 1982-03-05
SE8201389A SE8201389L (sv) 1982-03-05 1982-03-05 Protesfot

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0103590A1 EP0103590A1 (en) 1984-03-28
EP0103590B1 true EP0103590B1 (en) 1986-09-10

Family

ID=20346178

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP83900814A Expired EP0103590B1 (en) 1982-03-05 1983-03-03 Prosthetic foot

Country Status (10)

Country Link
US (1) US4619661A (da)
EP (1) EP0103590B1 (da)
JP (1) JPS59500300A (da)
CA (1) CA1198252A (da)
DE (1) DE3365961D1 (da)
DK (1) DK507283D0 (da)
FI (1) FI833991A0 (da)
NO (1) NO833990L (da)
SE (1) SE8201389L (da)
WO (1) WO1983003050A1 (da)

Families Citing this family (25)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5181932A (en) * 1989-04-13 1993-01-26 Phillips L Van Foot prosthesis having auxiliary ankle construction
GB8605026D0 (en) * 1986-02-28 1986-04-09 Hanger & Co Ltd J E Artificial foot
US4735754A (en) * 1986-08-18 1988-04-05 Horst Buckner Method for fabricating artificial body parts
US5066305A (en) * 1988-10-25 1991-11-19 Model & Instrument Development Corporation Prosthetic foot having a low profile cantilever spring keel
US6406500B1 (en) 1989-04-13 2002-06-18 Van L. Phillips Foot prosthesis having curved forefoot
US5290319A (en) 1991-02-28 1994-03-01 Phillips L Van Prosthetic foot incorporating adjustable bladders
US5514186A (en) * 1989-04-13 1996-05-07 Phillips; Van L. Attachment construction for prosthesis
US5549714A (en) * 1990-09-21 1996-08-27 Phillips; Van L. Symes foot prosthesis
US5181933A (en) * 1991-02-28 1993-01-26 Phillips L Van Split foot prosthesis
US5314499A (en) * 1991-04-04 1994-05-24 Collier Jr Milo S Artificial limb including a shin, ankle and foot
US5545234A (en) * 1991-04-04 1996-08-13 Collier, Jr.; Milo S. Lower extremity prosthetic device
KR0155591B1 (ko) * 1991-09-30 1998-11-16 반 엘 필립스 에너지 저장식 의족 파일론
US5443528A (en) * 1992-11-17 1995-08-22 Allen; Scott Coil spring prosthetic foot
US5593455A (en) * 1994-05-27 1997-01-14 Phillips; Van L. Plug mounted prosthesis
SE511893C2 (sv) * 1996-07-05 1999-12-13 Pro Pel Ab Anpassningsbar framfotsdel för en fotprotes; användning av en sådan framfotsdel i en inställbar fotprotes samt system avsett för individuellt anpassningsbara fotproteser
RU2124334C1 (ru) * 1997-10-29 1999-01-10 Реутовский экспериментальный завод резинотехнических изделий Способ изготовления протеза стопы
UA52676C2 (uk) * 1999-02-22 2003-01-15 Науково-Іноваційна Фірма "Вол" Протез гомілковоступневої частини ноги
RU2162674C2 (ru) * 1999-05-17 2001-02-10 Открытое акционерное общество "Ракетно-космическая корпорация "Энергия" им. С.П. Королева" Пневмостопа протеза нижней конечности
WO2002051342A1 (en) 2000-12-22 2002-07-04 Townsend Barry W Prosthetic foot
US6443995B1 (en) 2000-12-22 2002-09-03 Barry W. Townsend Prosthetic foot
US7108723B2 (en) 2000-12-22 2006-09-19 Townsend Barry W Prosthetic foot
USD647617S1 (en) * 2009-11-24 2011-10-25 Proteor Envelope of a prosthesis foot
US9999524B2 (en) 2014-06-30 2018-06-19 össur hf Prosthetic feet and foot covers
USD795433S1 (en) * 2015-06-30 2017-08-22 Össur Iceland Ehf Prosthetic foot cover
US12201537B2 (en) 2020-11-30 2025-01-21 Össur Iceland Ehf Prosthetic foot with layers of fibrous material

Family Cites Families (12)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
SE139076C1 (da) *
US831330A (en) * 1906-01-29 1906-09-18 George Doebrich Flexible hand.
DE354246C (de) * 1921-05-21 1922-06-06 Anton Leisten Kuenstlicher Fuss
DE725400C (de) * 1941-08-03 1942-09-21 Friedrich Wieland Dipl Ing Fussgelenk fuer Kunstbeine
US3098239A (en) * 1961-01-18 1963-07-23 Nader Hugo Otto Max Prosthetic foot
US3335428A (en) * 1964-11-02 1967-08-15 Goodrich Co B F Resilient prosthetic foot made from elastic polymers of different hardness
US3501777A (en) * 1967-07-13 1970-03-24 Gavrill Artemovich Degtyarev Leg prostheses for thigh disarticulations
FR2293186A1 (fr) * 1974-12-02 1976-07-02 Brisson Philippe Appareil de prothese pour membres inferieurs
SU738618A1 (ru) * 1976-12-09 1980-06-08 Центральный Ордена Трудового Красного Знамени Научно-Исследовательский Институт Протезирования И Протезостроения Искусственна стопа
US4328594A (en) * 1980-02-13 1982-05-11 Campbell John W Prosthetic foot
GB2098072B (en) * 1980-09-25 1984-03-21 Blatchford & Sons Chas A Ltd Improved endo-skeletal artificial limb
US4461045A (en) * 1981-12-10 1984-07-24 Chas. A. Blatchford & Sons Ltd. Artificial leg

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DK507283A (da) 1983-11-04
DE3365961D1 (en) 1986-10-16
FI833991A7 (fi) 1983-10-31
CA1198252A (en) 1985-12-24
EP0103590A1 (en) 1984-03-28
US4619661A (en) 1986-10-28
SE8201389L (sv) 1983-09-06
WO1983003050A1 (en) 1983-09-15
DK507283D0 (da) 1983-11-04
JPS59500300A (ja) 1984-03-01
FI833991A0 (fi) 1983-10-31
NO833990L (no) 1983-11-02

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